Mumbai: As Indian cities expand and the job of running them becomes more complex, IIM Mumbai is turning urban management into a classroom subject.Mumbai: Running a city is becoming a more complex job, and IIM Mumbai now wants to train the people doing it.From June 2027, the institute will launch an MBA in urban management, aimed at officials in urban local bodies and town planners dealing with the pressures of expanding cities such as Mumbai.The programme will carry a fee of Rs 16 lakh and is being designed with working professionals in mind. Its most unusual feature is a flexible multiple entry-exit structure that will allow students to complete the course over as many as five years instead of the usual two.A student completing one module can leave with a certificate, two modules will earn a diploma, three an advanced diploma, while completion of all four will lead to an MBA degree.Prof Manoj Kumar Tiwari, director of IIM Mumbai, said the new programmes were being created in response to changing professional demands.As cities expand, he said, the challenges of planning and managing them are also becoming more complex. The urban management programme, therefore, is intended to equip civic officials and planners with management skills increasingly needed in modern cities.Prof Vivekanand Khanapuri of IIM Mumbai said the flexibility would allow professionals to pursue specialised learning without having to put their careers on hold. The larger objective, he said, was to take management education beyond conventional full-time students and make it accessible to professionals in government and industry.The Urban Management MBA is part of a broader set of programmes the institute is preparing for 2027. An MBA in Finance, developed with the National Stock Exchange, will also begin in June. Designed around the needs of Mumbai’s financial sector, it will be delivered in a hybrid format, combining online and classroom teaching.IIM Mumbai also plans to start a PG diploma in sports management and an executive MBA, with weekend classes for working professionals.Its expansion into specialised executive education will begin even earlier. In Nov 2026, the institute will roll out an executive certificate programme in AI, blockchain and cyber security leadership in collaboration with C-DAC. Programmes in AI-enabled senior management and future leadership in HRM are also planned.The proposed 2027 intake includes 60 seats each for urban management, finance and sports management, and 120 seats for the executive MBA.
